7 Simple Steps to Convert Prospects into Clients

Sales is a science that has been studied and well defined (by people much smarter than me!)

In this post, I share a simple blueprint for creating sales activities that have the potential to increase your conversion rates from 40% to 85%, as we did with Kathryn. Let me tell you about her situation…

Like many passionate entrepreneurs, Kathryn has a high-quality offer, but for some reason, she struggles to get clients to say yes to working with her.

She has inconsistent sales from discovery calls and gets lots of hugs but no credit cards from her speaking engagements. Frustrated with her slow progress, Kathryn turned to me for help, thinking she must really have a problem with marketing.

That problem with marketing was turning into a very big revenue?problem.

Low sales. Little profit. Not paying herself enough. And mounting frustration by not making an impact with her gifts was also eroding her confidence.

In actuality, this problem was costing Kathryn her livelihood. She started questioning whether or not she wanted to continue with her business, because she felt the model was broken.

And in fact, it wasn’t a problem with her marketing. It was a sales problem.

Unfortunately, this is a common issue I see when clients first come to work with me; low conversion rates, losing out on deals to the competition, and not enough clients.

When a business gets stuck, I see many business owners jump to conclusions about what they think the nature of the problem is. Rather than seeing the root cause, they identify surface symptoms, which lead them in the wrong direction when looking for solutions.

But before you lose confidence and change your business model because you feel things aren’t working, let’s reveal the seven steps to every sale you need to know to increase your conversions, create happy customers and a more fulfilling business.

There is a buying journey that every customer goes through. When you understand how the journey works, you can plan your marketing and sales activities to support each step, rather than do things that may sabotage or work against the customer’s natural buying rhythm.

First, you attract potential leads (prospects) with a good marketing strategy, and then you convert those leads into paying customers with a solid sales strategy.

Chet Holmes, author of the National Bestselling book The Ultimate Sales Machine laid out the Seven Key Steps to Every Sale. (If you haven’t read his book, it’s a must-read for all business owners.)

Step 1: Establish Rapport.

Your prospect must like, respect, and trust you before they do business with you; if you get this right, you’ll be 40% of your way to closing the sale.

Step 2: Find?Need.

Ask intentional questions to learn about their pain points and challenges. Allow them to express their needs. If you do this well, you’re another 25% of your way to closing the sale. (Most people do this part poorly, by the way.)

Step 3: Build?Value.

Use an education-based marketing approach. Using market data, not product data to build value around you and your company, will position you as an expert, not a Salesperson. (97% of your prospects feel that salespeople are too pushy, and that’s up from 3 years ago.)

Step 4: Create?Desire.

Motivate your buyer by using a combination of problems and solutions. People are more motivated to avoid pain than to gain pleasure; they will move away from problems and discomfort toward solutions. So, once you show them the problems, and paint the picture of their wonderful future with your services, you will create desire.

Step 5: Overcome Objections.

These are simply opportunities to clarify unanswered questions, concerns or a lack of information that wasn’t communicated or understood. An objection is an opportunity to close.

Step 6: Close the?Sale.

Remember to ASK for the sale, and initiate the next steps quickly to mitigate buyer’s remorse.

Step 7: Follow-up.

7.5% of follow-ups happen in the first 90 days, and 42% convert up to 2 years later — IF you have a consistent communication cadence that adds value. The shocking news is that 75% of salespeople NEVER FOLLOW up or stop after the 2nd contact, yet 80% of sales are made between the 5th-12th contact.

Pro-Tip: If you want to win more deals and stand out from the competition, then follow up consistently over?time.

It’s important to do the up-front work to plan your strategy, rather than just shooting from the hip and hoping for the best. (Your planning will save you time, money and grief in the long run.)

Be intentional with how you implement a successful marketing and sales process to get traction with sales conversations and convert more ideal prospects.

If your prospects are not stepping into working with you, here are 3 questions to ask yourself:

1. Are you Asking Great Questions? Establish rapport-building questions to make a connection, and find common interests. Sales are created inside relationships.

2. Are you Genuinely Interested? Be empathetic and care about them. Be more interested in them than anyone else, and do it genuinely. Stay curious.

3. Are you Qualifying Your Buyer? Qualifying buyers means finding out what they are looking for and what factors will influence them to buy. Find out what problem or pain they have and why it’s important for them to talk to you about solving it now. A qualified buyer has Budget, Authority, Need and Time (urgency).

When I work with my private coaching clients, we co-create their marketing and sales strategy, so they align their business development activities with who they are and how their customers buy.

This results in more clarity, confidence and conversions. Like we did with Kathryn.

I’m curious to know, what’s your biggest question when converting your prospects into customers? Leave me a comment below.

Stop Giving it All Away and Start Getting Clients to say?YES!        

A free guide to help you successfully navigate the sales conversation, so you can stop chasing prospects and start magnetizing buyers who will jump at the chance to work with you — without hassles, stalls or discounts.

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?? Learn a process to stop chasing target markets and start attracting qualified buyers. (Chasing target markets will keep you broke!)

?? Discover how to navigate a successful sales conversation. Cheatsheet enclosed.

?? Learn two key components for inspiring prospects to jump at the chance to work with you.

?? Simple questions to ask during a consultation that requires no selling whatsoever.

Michela Quilici, Your Business Navigator

Business Growth Coach | Award-winning Marketing Strategist | Speaker & Bestselling Author?| Forbes Coaches Council | Global Leader Women Speakers Association

I work with growth-minded business owners and CEOs who seek better marketing, sales and revenue systems for more predictability, profitability, and scalability in any economy. If you are struggling to get traction, want to accelerate growth or scale and leverage your business to 6 or 7+ figures, apply for a discovery call with me today at MeetWithMichela.com

The average client who works with me gains more clarity, focus, objectivity and accountability to work smarter, not harder, so they can get noticed, get clients and get profitable - like Megan Miller, Professional Speaker & Intentional Living Expert. Click to watch.